ExpressionEngine Reviews & Product Details

ExpressionEngine is a and secure open-source content management system (CMS) designed to empower developers and content creators to build and manage dynamic websites with ease. Its flexible architecture allows users to organize content into customizable channels, facilitating the creation of diverse content types such as blogs, news articles, product descriptions, and more. With a user-friendly interface, ExpressionEngine enables seamless content editing directly from the front end, eliminating the need to navigate complex control panels. The platform's robust templating system supports the integration of HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and ExpressionEngine tags, providing developers with the tools to craft unique and engaging web experiences. Key Features and Functionality: - Flexible Content Channels: Organize and manage various content types through customizable channels, allowing for tailored content structures. - Front-End Editing: Edit content directly on the live site, streamlining the content management process without accessing the backend. - Comprehensive Templating System: Utilize a powerful templating engine that supports multiple programming languages and ExpressionEngine tags for dynamic content rendering. - Custom Fieldtypes: Choose from over 20 different field types to capture and display content in ways that best suit your website's needs. - Entry Cloning: Duplicate existing entries with a single click to expedite content creation and maintain consistency. - User Management: Efficiently manage different types of members and user roles to control access and permissions. - Multi-Site Management: Administer multiple websites from a single control panel, with the option to share design elements, content, and user data across sites. - Live Preview: Preview content changes in real-time within the site's design before publishing, ensuring accuracy and visual appeal. - Add-On Prolets: Extend site functionality by integrating add-ons that can be accessed directly from the front end. - Robust Security: Benefit from a proven track record of rock-solid security, with no serious security issues reported in its 15-year history. Primary Value and Solutions Provided: ExpressionEngine offers a comprehensive solution for building and managing websites that require flexibility, security, and ease of use. Its customizable content channels and templating system allow developers to create unique web experiences without being constrained by rigid structures. The front-end editing capabilities and live preview features enhance the efficiency of content management, enabling users to make real-time updates with confidence. Additionally, the platform's strong security measures and active community support provide peace of mind for users, ensuring that their websites remain secure and up-to-date. Whether for small personal blogs or large-scale enterprise sites, ExpressionEngine delivers the tools and flexibility needed to bring any web project to life.

Seller

EllisLab

Discussions

ExpressionEngine Community

Overview by

Tom Jaeger

Value at a Glance

Averages based on real user reviews.

Time to Implement

2 months

Return on Investment

10 months

View More Pricing Information

Top-Rated Alternatives

View All Alternatives

ExpressionEngine Media

ExpressionEngine

G2 reviews are authentic and verified.

Here's how.

Verified User in Marketing and Advertising

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

2/16/2018

"Wonderful CMS"

5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

I love the versatility of the program - it allows for so many cheap plugins Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

there are a few user-unfriendly areas that i need programming to help me with Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Kristen B.

Digital Content Strategist

Enterprise (> 1000 emp.)

12/17/2016

"A nice alternative CMS"

4/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

I have found EE to be highly extendable. We have member-specific content, discussion forums, wikis, and a ratings system (in addition to regular site content) all running on ExpressionEngine.

The support is top notch. We pay for the silver support plan ($49/mo) and it is 100% worth it. The ExpressionEngine support folks are knowledgeable and speedy with their responses. I have never actually expedited a ticket because I know I will have a reply within a few hours by filing a regular ticket.

EE 3 has a more user-friendly interface for site admins (compared to EE 2). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

There are so many settings that can be customized, sometimes it's difficult to remember where certain settings live. Of course, EE is well documented so it's usually easy to look up the answer (or if all else fails, file a support ticket). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:

I have found EE to be a great alternative for those considering WordPress or Drupal. Take a look at all 3 and consider how customizable you want your installation to be. If you are willing to pay a little extra per month for the EE support plan, it is totally worth it, and the support techs can even help with implementation of premium add-ons, etc. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?

We wanted something that was more secure and with better support than some of the open source options out there. EE makes it easy for us to run a membership-based site where we can control what content is visible to site members vs. guests. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Aly N.

Content Strategist

Internet

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

11/17/2016

"No contest—from what I've seen and heard, it's the best."

5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

Because it's the update and I have the most experience with the new version, I'm going to speak about 3.0—ultimately, it's very user-friendly. Even to people who aren't necessarily on the developer side (like me). The functionality of the program is great, the new Assets feature is wonderful (although there are a few bugs that will eventually be fixed), and it's pretty straightforward. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

It's sometimes difficult to find things unless you've used the program a few times (thoroughly) before. Every so often, I find myself nosing around through tabs I don't normally go to in order to try to find a space to integrate content. The Assets feature also has some kinks to work out, but overall it's a great version. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:

Take a chunk of time to just mess around with it and learn it through experience—it can be a little overwhelming at first if you're not a developer, but you'll certainly catch on after using it a bit. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?

Because I work for a web development company, it's our primary tool for building every site and it's apparently much better than what they used in the past. It's user-friendly enough that everyone can implement changes and content confidently and often without asking for help from any of the dev team. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Katie H.

Digital Strategist

Marketing and Advertising

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

10/19/2016

"ExpressionEngine - The Ultimate CMS"

5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

I love how easy it is to use ExpressionEngine. I work for a web design agency, but had no background in web design. Our developers were able to bring me up to speed so that I can enter content, create forms, and manage SEO. I am the digital content strategist for the company and I work with the clients to help manage their content and make it appropriate for the CMS. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

One thing I wish could be improved upon is the user experience once it meets the client. For our team, we understand the backend of EE, but I think clients, who aren't familiar with a content management system, would appreciate a more streamlined backend process. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:

If you work for a web agency, I would highly recommend considering ExpressionEngine. The community is great and they are very easy and pleasant to work with. ExpressionEngine use to use, even if you've never worked with a content management system before. Hopefully, you have a team of helpful developers around you to walk you through the process! Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?

We build all of our websites with ExpressionEngine. We have used other content management systems, but ExpressionEngine by Ellis Labs is the best we've come across. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Marketing and Advertising

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

6/1/2017

"Expression Engine used to be the go to for large complex cms builds."

1.5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

Expression Engine has many features needed to build a complex template system based website. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

Expression Engine has a strange parse order and no variables in the template system. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:

Try CraftCMS, it is built by the leading plugin developers for Expression Engine, and they have integrated many of the go to features and made it all work more seamlessly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?

Expression Engine can iterate over channel entries and produce dynamic results. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

JT O.

Executive Director

Non-Profit Organization Management

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/18/2016

"Executive Expression Engine Review"

2.5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

It quickly allows our staff to add or edit content to our page and is easily designed and very user-friendly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

It seems a little dated compared to the abilities of over CMSs out there. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:

If you need a system that is easily manageable for very complex systems and workflows of content, then definitely look into EE. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?

We can efficiently manage our website without having to rely on an agency or web developer to make edits or updates. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Em E.

Marketing Communications Manager

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

2/14/2017

"Expression Engine "

2.5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

Some of the areas are rather intuitive and easy to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

The version we have had to upgrade so we could see pages before they were published. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Government Administration

Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.)

5/18/2017

"Out of date, but fairly intuitive"

2.5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

I'm glad to have upgraded from this platform. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

Short of publishing the page, the built-in pages are ill-conceived preview models. Too many tabs and hidden pages to see overall layout. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Ben S.

Principal

Internet

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

4/7/2016

Business partner of the seller or seller's competitor, not included in G2 scores.

"Powerful, flexible, extensible CMS for folks who have outgrown WordPress."

4/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

ExpressionEngine should be evaluated from two perspectives.

DEVELOPMENT

ExpressionEngine is a design- and content-agnostic CMS. What does this mean? Unlike WordPress and some other CMS, ExpressionEngine adapts to your design rather than the reverse. It is template-drive, not theme-driven, and your templates may contain any code you want, including JavaScript, HTML, XML, JSON, etc. It is a powerful tool for developing customized websites without compromising on layout or features. Once you get comfortable with its template and content scheme, you'll be able to develop anything from a ten-page brochureware site to a 1,000 page news aggregator.

CONTENT EDITING

ExpressionEngine offers an intuitive content management experience for users. In our experience, content editors enjoy ExpressionEngine's ease of use, as long as the developer takes the time to set it up correctly. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

* ExpressionEngine's loyalty to its legacy codebase creates extra work for developers.

* Too much reliance on third-party add-ons to accomplish tasks that are built in to other CMS.

* Updating process is a headache. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:

This CMS is best suited to higher-budget, custom websites. If you want a template-driven, somewhat generic site that just works, and/or you have a small budget, stick with WordPress or similar software.

On the other hand, if you have a solid budget, clear planning process, and professional design you'd like to implement, ExpressionEngine is a strong contender.

Unsure what's best? Hire a developer to spend a few hours walking your web or marketing team through the software, showing both the development aspects and the content editor's perspective. This is the fastest way to get a sense of ExpressionEngine's value to your business. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?

As a branding, web design and development shop, Versa Studio has created and supported over 50 ExpressionEngine-driven sites. It's been our go-to CMS for 9 years, our key software for creating sites that support our clients' business goals.

Our clients benefit from ExpressionEngine's ability to adapt to their business goals, as expressed in design, features and content structure. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Verified User in Internet

Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.)

12/16/2016

"The primary content management system we use to develop web sites for our customers"

5/5

What do you like best about ExpressionEngine?

It is a very flexible and customizable solution Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you dislike about ExpressionEngine?

Not as well known as I would like it to be Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Recommendations to others considering ExpressionEngine:

This is an extremely versatile product and if you are tired of "cookie cutter" websites, then this is a great tool to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What problems is ExpressionEngine solving and how is that benefiting you?

providing a user friendly interface for our customers to be able to manage their content assets for their web presence. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.